“Maybe not with my driving.” She dug in her bag for keys and opened the door while he held the screen. “But I worried you’d have second thoughts.”
His brain stalled when he noticed how fast she’d gotten inside her house.
“You don’t have an alarm system out here?” He realized there were homes within sight of hers—her sister-in-law’s house even. Still, Erin was a single woman living by herself.
“I haven’t spent that much time here since it was built. I traveled a lot up until last fall.” She dropped her things on the rattan coffee table in the living area and kicked off her black-heeled boots.
She reached into a bowl of cherries on the stand and ate one, handing him one by the stem.
“All the more reason.” He knew it troubled him unreasonably, but he needed to say something.
He took the cherry and ate it mostly to be polite, though the burst of flavor on his tongue was a pleasant surprise.
“You’re right. I’ll get an alarm for sure.” Her eyes were full of understanding as she reached to swipe the juice from his lips.
He swallowed hard, shoving aside the worry about the locks and anything else except for this amazing woman.
“I’m glad you asked me over.” His temperature spiked at her nearness just knowing where this would lead. Knowing there was no turning back.
“I’m glad to have a second chance to make my interest known.” She laid her palm flat against his chest. Warm. Direct.
Sexy and sweet at the same time.
“I like it that you don’t play games. That I don’t have to guess what you’re thinking.” He didn’t have the emotional fortitude for that kind of stuff these days.
She walked her fingers up the buttons of his shirt and landed at the knot of his tie.
“Are you suggesting you know what I’m thinking?” She inserted a finger between his collar and the tie, easing the knot down until the cotton silk released and the whole thing unwound.
His body roared with fresh heat.
“I’ve got a good idea.” He cradled her face in his hands and studied her dilated pupils. Her flushed cheeks. “A very good idea.”
Trailing a hand down her neck, he watched her eyelids flutter and close, her head tip back. Beneath his palm, her pulse went wild, a rapid tattoo against his hand that spurred his own heartbeat.
She opened her eyes to meet his gaze.
“Prove it,” she dared him, lifting another cherry to her lips for a bite. “Show me.”
Twenty different scenarios ran through his head in an instant as he envisioned everything from having her against the door to lowering her to the nearest couch. She had a hot tub out back. A kitchen island that he could seat her on and make himself comfortable between her thighs.
But he nixed all of those to sweep her off her feet.
A gasp that sounded like part surprise and part delight escaped her lips as he hoisted her high against his chest, savoring the armful of feminine curves.
“What way?” He strode toward the stairs as she pointed her answer.
“I’m not entirely sure this is what I was thinking, but I have to admit, I like your imagination.” She popped the top button of his shirt collar as he carried her upstairs.
Her touch felt cool along his hot skin. He couldn’t wait to feel all of her.
“I haven’t gotten to the part you were thinking about yet.” He spoke into her ear, close enough to feel her shiver at his words. “I merely needed the right place to show you.”
She unfastened another button, her fingers diving into his shirt to graze along his shoulder and up his neck. He studied the lay of the land at the top of the staircase. Which way to go? She wasn’t giving directions now. She wasn’t paying attention to where they were going.
Good.
He wanted her distracted and thinking about him. Following where his instincts led, he found a room with a purple sweater hooked over the doorknob and toed the door the rest of the way open. The scent of amber increased ever so subtly and he knew his guess had been correct.Everything was white except for a few anime paintings in bright colors and a red lacquer headboard painted with small birds along one edge. Sunlight filtered in the bottom half of wooden blinds, which had been left partially slatted.
